Home Exercise Program for Homebound Older Adults

Summary

Exercise can be beneficial for older adults by promoting health, delaying or reversing functional decline, reducing chronic disease risk, decreasing falls, increasing strength and stamina, improving ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), and improving overall quality of life (QOL). Developing and implementing exercise programs for homebound older adults for whom traveling to routine clinic-based appointments may not be feasible or safe becomes critical. Homebound, older adults are at increased risk for recurrent hospitalization, use of emergency care, nursing home placement, and death. Indeed, one study shows patients had significantly higher risk of being admitted into a hospital or nursing home, higher mortality, and higher health care expenditures compared to those in a comparison group. The purpose of this pilot is to develop and implement a pragmatic and feasible intervention to improve physical functioning in older homebound adults with chronic mobility disability. Unfortunately, little is known about the feasibility and utility of pragmatic home-based exercise rehabilitation in older adults with severe mobility limitations.

The investigators propose to develop and implement an intervention targeting functional limitations in this population with mobility disability. Our overall goals are to maintain and restore physical functioning and QOL for older, homebound adults. This research carries direct benefits for these patients as even modest improvements in disabled older adults may translate into significantly better QOL, reduce disability, minimize or reverse gradual declines related to serious chronic disease, resort functional independence, and increase community living capacity. Thus, the specified objectives of finalizing and implementing a sustainable home-based exercise program have practical implications for disabled older adults. Were homebound patients even slightly higher in terms of functional capacity, it could provide a partial degree of functional independence, impacting QOL for both patients and caregivers.

Conditions

• Aging

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

HEX

HEX is a customized exercise program with components including: 1) controlled flexibility movements; 2) progressive ADL training focusing on bed mobility, bed to chair transfers, and indoor walking; 3) task-specific seated resistance training to improve ability to get out of bed and; 4) and balance exercises. Participants will be expected to perform their HEX program at least 2 times/week in their home and all individualized exercise sessions will be supervised by an Exercise Physiologist. Each exercise has four levels of difficulty, which will be progressed as tolerated throughout the 12-weeks. Seated resistance exercises were designed to target all the major muscle groups and will include the following: arm curls, shoulder raises (lateral/front), overhead arm raise, wrist curls, leg extensions, hip flexion, hip ab/adduction, sit-to-stands, torso rotation, and marching.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Maryland, Baltimore

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Alyssa Stookey, PhD · University of Maryland School of Medicine and Baltimore VA Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-01

Primary Completion

2024-05-30

Completion

2024-05-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations